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Pierre Paulin (9 July 1927 - 13 June 2009) was a French furniture designer and interior designer. His uncle Georges Paulin was a part-time automobile designer and invented the mechanical retractible hardtop and was executed by Nazi's in 1941 as a hero of the French Resistance. After failing his Baccalauréat he would train to become a ceramist in Vallaurius on the French Rivera and then as a stone-carver in Burgundy. A fight that would injure his right arm ended his dreams as a sculptor but attend the Ecole Camondo in Paris. He had a stint with the Gascoin company in Le Havre and would gain interest in Scandinavian and Japanese design. He was famed for his innovative work with Artifort in the 1960's and interior design in the 70's.

His designs in chairs at the time were modern and unique, these designs were runaway successes among the young as it appeal to them and even today are still being made or sold at auctions.

Early Life
Born in Paris in 1927, he had a French father and a German-speaking Swiss mother. He was as well the nephew of Georges Paulin who designed vehicles and invented the first mechanical retractible hardtop roof. Pierre Paulin had failed his Baccalauréat and moved on to train as a ceramist in Vallaurius and then as a stone-carver in Burgandy. Training as a sculptor, he would get into a fight that injured his right arm ending his dreams as a sculptor. He attend the Ecole Camondo in Paris afterwards. Relations with the Gascoin company, he would gain interest in Scandinavian and Japanese design which would influence his works later on.

Early Career
Pierre Paulin had his debut exhibition at the the Salon des Arts Ménagers in 1953. Afterwards, his would would appear on the cover of the magazine La Maison Française. A year later he would be employed by the Thornet company and began experimenting with stretching swimwear materials over traditionally made chairs. Around 4 years later he would join the Maastricht-based Dutch manufacturers Artifort. Working at Artifort he would become famous worldwide with his Mushroom chair (1960). At his time working for Artifort, Paulin quoted "It represented the first full expression of my abilities. I considered the manufacture of chairs to be rather primitive and I was trying to think up new processes" he said in 2008, he worked with foams and rubbers from Italy all worked around a light metallic frame. He would then use a new stretch material over the chair. His designs were focused on applied design rather than focusing on form with comfort as his chair's starting-point. The combination of these materials made Paulin's chair designs made rounder, and comfortable shapes that are still being used in chairs today.

Later Career
During the 70's and 80's he was invited to decorate and furnish several important places for important people. He redecorated the living, dining, smoking and exhibition rooms of the Elysée's private apartments for Pompidou in 1971. In 1983 he furnished the office of Francois Mitterand. In 1979 he launched his own consultancy and worked for Calor, Ericsson, Renault, Saviem, Tefal, Thomson and Airbus.

In 1994 he would retire to the Cévennes in southern France but would still continue on designing furniture. He died on the 13th of June, 2009 in a hospital in Montpellier, France.

Chairs
Pierre Paulin was well known for designing chairs. He worked using foams and metallic frames with stretch materials covering it made them admired for " their clear lines, the sensual feel of their material or just simply for the way their shapes cradled the body." His designs were widely popular during it's time and have influenced different designers such as Olivier Mourgue. Pierre Paulin influenced Olivier Mourgue's Djinn chairs that were featured in Stanley Kubrick's classic film 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Famous Designs
Pierre Paulin was most famous for his innovative designs during the 1960's when he worked for Artifort. His most famed chair designs were the Mushroom chair (1959), Ribbon chair (1966) and Tongue chair (1968).

Interior Design
Pierre Paulin was as well highly influential during the 1970's. He was invited by Mobilier national to decorate the private apartments of George Pompidou in the Palais de L'Elysee (1971). He was then invited again in 1983 to furnish the office of Francois Mitterand.

He also worked redesigned the interiors of the Denon Wing of the Louvre Museum, the hall of Tapestries in the Paris City Hall, the "Economic and Social Council" assembly room, the Green Room of the state radio's Broadcasting House ("Maison de la Radio") the Nikko Hotel and other places.